/> Though one of his pet projects Mani Rathnam's Lajjo has been halted, Gulzar has no time to think of losses.

Busier than ever, the poet-extraordinaire has just returned from a 12-day tour of Japan. "Tokyo,Osaka, Hiroshima....I hadn't visited that side of the world. But I was keen.

So I took off on a visit with some other members of the Sahitya Akademi. I addressed students in the universities there. But the turning point was when I visited the museum in Hiroshimi.

The wounds of World War 2 are still so fresh. It depressed me so much. I recited my poems on Iraq and Afghanistan. What happened in these unfortunate countries recently were splinters of Hiroshima."

Gulzar Saab's poetry had been translated into Japanese specially for this occasion.

From Urdu to Japanese, is quite a long journey. "But that isn't the only unusual journey I've made," laughs Gulzar Saab. "I'm also writing all the lyrics for a Pakistani film called Tere Liye directed by Farzan Rafiq."

This would perhaps be the first instance of an Indian poet contributing the lyrics to an entire score across the border.

Back home Gulzar saab's lyrics in Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom are threatening to attain the same popularity as his wacky word-play in Shaad Ali's earlier film Bunty Aur Babli.

"Shaad and I have forged a unique bond, just like Shaad's mentor Mani Ratham and I. People are constantly calling up to know what I mean by ose (dewdrop) mein gholi mint ki goli. They want to know, why mint? I've no answer."

And yes,while we're on the various vibrant activities of this ageless writer here's more. "I'm doing the lyrics for Amol Palekar's children film. It's always a pleasure to write songs for children. Whether it's Lakdi ki kathi or Chaddhi pehen ke phool khila hai and now Amol's songs, my children's songs are dedicated to my daugher."

Speaking of Meghna, proud papa Gulzar is delighted that she's directing her next film for Sanjay Gupta's production house. "She's directing a film based on a short story by Kartar Singh Duggal."

His own cinematic literary endeavour, the lyrics of Mani Rathnam's Lajjo have come to a grinding halt.

"I think they've a problem with acquiring the copyright of the story. We never got down to recording any of the songs."